Arresting officer acquitted in Freddie Gray case

A judge is expected Monday to hand down his verdict in the case of a Baltimore police officer charged in the arrest and subsequent death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man.

Baltimore Officer Not Guilty (Inform)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

May 23, 2016 - 9:04 am

Officer Edward Nero, one of six Baltimore city police officers charged in connection to the death of Freddie Gray, arriving at a courthouse at the beginning of his trial in Baltimore Md. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

Protesters react as Baltimore police officer Edward Nero (not pictured) was acquitted of all charges in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, outside a courthouse in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., May 23, 2016. (Bryan Woolston/Reuters)

Protesters react as Baltimore police officer Edward Nero (not pictured) was acquitted of all charges in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, outside a courthouse in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., May 23, 2016. (Bryan Woolston/Reuters)

A heavy police presence surrounds a courthouse during the trial of police officer Edward Nero in connection with the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., May 23, 2016. (Bryan Woolston/Reuters)

BALTIMORE — Baltimore police officer Edward Nero was acquitted on Monday of all charges in the 2015 death of black detainee Freddie Gray, an incident that triggered rioting and protests and fueled the Black Lives Matter movement.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams, who heard the case in a bench trial, issued the verdict before a packed courtroom. Nero, 30, had faced misdemeanor charges of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct in office.

There were no initial signs of rioting after the verdict but a group of protesters chased members of Nero’s family into a parking garage, yelling, “No justice, no peace.”

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake issued a statement urging calm and said Nero would face an administrative review by the police department.

Nero’s lawyers had argued that Gray’s arrest was justified and that the officer had little to do with it. He never touched Gray except when he tried to help him find an asthma inhaler and helped lift him into the van once he was shackled, they said.

The hashtag #FreddieGray began trending on Twitter in the United States after news of Nero’s acquittal and some black activists on Twitter expressed their disappointment.

“#FreddieGray should be alive today,” wrote DeRay Mckesson, a key figure in the Black Lives Matter movement who unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Baltimore in April.